Eco-Towns: Essex

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effect on the regeneration plans at Harlow of building a proposed eco-town at northeast Elsenham;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effect on local emissions levels of developing an eco-town at northeast Elsenham.

Iain Wright: As set out in the written statement on eco-towns on 4 November 2008,  Official Report, column 10WS, we have published an 'Eco-towns Sustainability Report' (SA). This has been carried out by Scott Wilson and evaluates the likely impact of proposals, including north-east Elsenham, on the environment, local economy and community. Copies of the SA will be deposited in the House Library shortly and are available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingsupply/ecotowns/
	For each location we are considering whether any further issues need to be evaluated at the strategic level as part of the Stage 2 consultation, which runs until 19 February 2009.

Homelessness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many rough sleepers there were estimated to be in England in each year since 1990.

Iain Wright: Annual rough sleeping figures have been collected since 1998 and are shown in the following table. These show the significant reductions in rough sleeping over the past 10 years
	
		
			  Rough sleepers in England 
			   Number 
			 1998 1,850 
			 1999 1,633 
			 2000 1,180 
			 2001 703 
			 2002 596 
			 2003 504 
			 2004 508 
			 2005 459 
			 2006 502 
			 2007 498 
			 2008 483

Electoral Commission: Powers of Entry

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Electoral Commission will be required to give prior notice in order to use the proposed new powers of entry contained in the Political Parties and Elections Bill.

Jack Straw: The Political Parties and Elections Bill provides two powers for the Electoral Commission to enter premises. The first power is contained in paragraph 1(5) of schedule 1 to the Bill, and replicates, with one important change, the existing power in section 146(3) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. This provides that, at any reasonable time, the Commission may enter premises for the purposes of carrying out its functions. Having entered under the power, the Commission may inspect documents relating to the income and expenditure of the individual or organisation whose premises the Commission has entered. It may also make copies.
	The existing power in section 146(3) enables the Commission only to enter the premises of registered political parties, recognised third parties who campaign in elections, and permitted participants who campaign in referendums. In addition to these categories of people, paragraph 1(5) will allow the same power also to be used in relation to regulated donees (including MPs, candidates and their election agents).
	Paragraph 3 of schedule 1 to the Bill provides that the Electoral Commission may apply to a justice of the peace for a warrant to enter premises. In order to obtain a warrant the Commission must demonstrate, on oath, to a justice of the peace that there are reasonable grounds for believing that a person has committed an offence or contravened a restriction or requirement and that an earlier request for documents has been made and not complied with. If these requirements are satisfied a justice of the peace can issue a warrant allowing a constable, together with any other person named in the warrant, to enter premises. Such a warrant may authorise the use of reasonable force, the searching of premises and taking of documents and may require a person named in the warrant to provide an explanation about any of the documents that are the object of the search.
	No prior notification of the Commission's intention to enter premises would be required. The person would be notified at the time of the Commission's entry to the premises.
	As I and my right hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Mr. Wills) have made clear, we have heard the force of opinion in the House on the issue of the Commission's powers and we have proposed measures to address these concerns for debate at Committee stage on 11 November.

Prison Service: Cost Effectiveness

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what cashable efficiency savings HM Prison Service was required to make in the financial year 2007-08;
	(2)  what cashable efficiency savings were made by HM Prison Service in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what cashable efficiency savings HM Prison Service made in 2006-07; and from what areas these savings were delivered.

Jack Straw: The HM Prison Service delivered cash savings of £16 million during 2006-07. This was achieved through the merger of administrative functions at a new shared service centre in Newport South Wales, improvement in the level of professional expertise in procurement activities and also consolidating national procurement contracts. Additionally, the Prison Service delivered improvements in energy efficiency and waste management and produced savings from headquarters.
	During 2007-08 the HM Prison Service delivered cashable efficiencies of £52 million against a target for the year of £50 million. The cashable efficiencies delivered by the HM Prison Service each year for the past five financial years are:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2007-08 52 
			 2006-07 16 
			 2005-06 30 
			 2004-05 34 
			 2003-04 38

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoner on staff attacks there have been at each prison in each of the last five years.

Shahid Malik: Table 1 shows incidents of prisoner on staff assaults in each of the last five years by prison.
	The information set out is subject to important qualifications. The NOMS Incident Reporting System processes high volumes of data which are constantly being updated. The numbers provide a good indication of overall numbers but should not be interpreted as absolute.
	Assault information is recorded at establishment level in four categories: prisoner on prisoner, prisoner on officer, prisoner on other and other (which may include non-prisoner perpetrators). The recorded incidents of assaults on prison officers are not completely exclusive to officers; establishment recording sometimes includes assaults on other prison staff in this category. Rises or falls in reported numbers from one year to the next are not a good indicator of an underlying trend for a particular prison. Additionally there have been improvements in reporting over the years, and this is reflected in the tables.
	Assault data is complex and the numbers need to be interpreted with caution. Information recorded as assault incidents may involve one or many prisoners as some assault incidents may involve more than one assailant or more than one victim. Additionally in a proportion of incidents only the victim is known.
	The numbers supplied refer to the number of individual assault incidents. The numbers refer to all incidents recorded as assaults; these may also include threatening behaviour, projection of bodily fluids and other non-contact events and allegations.
	The category "Prisoner on Other" contains few entries but these may include prison staff as well as visitors, legal visitors, etc. For the purpose of this response the categories "Prisoner on Officer" and "Prisoner on Other" are used.
	Ministers, NOMS and the Prison Officers' Association are collectively committed to ensuring that violence in prisons is not tolerated in any form. Since 2004, a national strategy has directed every public sector prison to have in place a local violence reduction strategy and since mid 2007 this has been applied to the public and contracted out estate. A whole prison approach is encouraged, engaging all staff, all disciplines and prisoners in challenging unacceptable behaviour, problem-solving and personal safety.
	
		
			  Table 1: Prisoner on staff assaults 
			  Prison name  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007( 1) 
			 Acklington 3 3 5 8 9 
			 Albany 3 — — 3 n/a 
			 Altcourse 48 51 47 39 53 
			 Ashfield 70 90 180 136 100 
			 Ashwell 1 — — 5 3 
			 Aylesbury 15 6 17 18 14 
			 Bedford 14 11 15 31 13 
			 Belmarsh 52 43 35 22 22 
			 Birmingham 59 85 99 81 78 
			 Blakenhurst 27 56 46 34 38 
			 Blundeston 3 4 7 7 1 
			 Brinsford 39 34 19 10 17 
			 Bristol 26 48 28 41 15 
			 Brixton 52 72 50 37 41 
			 Brockhill 6 10 14 9 3 
			 Bronzefield — 20 87 81 43 
			 Buckley Hall 38 19 25 14 11 
			 Bullingdon 23 16 17 23 24 
			 Bullwood Hall 1 — 9 6 3 
			 Camphill 13 9 12 5 n/a 
			 Canterbury 9 4 4 3 4 
			 Cardiff 11 16 19 14 6 
			 Castington 56 57 50 46 46 
			 Channings Wood 4 10 10 8 16 
			 Chelmsford 16 22 37 53 21 
			 Coldingley 1 — 1 3 8 
			 Cookham Wood 14 5 3 1 2 
			 Dartmoor 9 5 12 7 10 
			 Deerbolt 6 28 33 22 34 
			 Doncaster 28 23 26 47 29 
			 Dorchester 4 2 10 9 9 
			 Dovegate 48 80 35 59 43 
			 Downview 6 8 29 9 12 
			 Drake Hall — — 1 1  
			 Durham 34 31 42 46 58 
			 East Sutton Park 1 1 — — — 
			 Eastwood Park 13 7 21 28 8 
			 Edmunds Hill 9 23 9 13 2 
			 Elmley 25 21 30 17 28 
			 Erlestoke — 2 2 2 10 
			 Everthorpe 2 2 10 14 13 
			 Exeter 12 3 7 12 9 
			 Featherstone 8 21 8 9 17 
			 Feltham 103 173 138 118 107 
			 Ford 3 7 5 3 4 
			 Forest Bank 63 78 88 54 34 
			 Foston Hall 18 8 13 28 27 
			 Frankland 5 15 12 10 21 
			 Full Sutton 13 12 17 14 9 
			 Garth 11 5 7 9 9 
			 Gartree — 1 2 3 1 
			 Glen Parva 29 39 31 45 56 
			 Gloucester 17 6 13 15 6 
			 Grendon/Spring Hill — — — — 1 
			 Guys Marsh 6 5 3 14 16 
			 Haverigg 7 2 1 5 18 
			 Hewell Grange — — 2 — 1 
			 High Down 51 59 40 71 67 
			 Highpoint 22 19 16 23 22 
			 Hindley 27 14 32 58 48 
			 Hollesley Bay 4 3 — 1 — 
			 Holloway 104 108 89 111 104 
			 Holme House 21 19 27 24 20 
			 Hull 32 30 33 25 33 
			 Huntercombe 19 15 15 33 24 
			 Kingston 1 — 2 2 — 
			 Kirkham — 1 — — 2 
			 Lancaster — 3 1 2 1 
			 Lancaster Farms 9 28 47 56 39 
			 Leeds 79 40 36 17 18 
			 Leicester 11 6 7 18 7 
			 Lewes 22 11 21 17 17 
			 Leyhill — 1 1 — 3 
			 Lincoln 12 23 22 15 23 
			 Lindholme 19 6 13 13 20 
			 Littlehey 13 10 10 5 4 
			 Liverpool 46 38 24 21 31 
			 Long Lartin 5 5 15 12 15 
			 Low Newton 16 27 31 21 20 
			 Lowdham Grange 5 13 17 36 39 
			 Maidstone 6 5 1 — 5 
			 Manchester 61 63 73 65 78 
			 Moorland 22 13 20 16 15 
			 Morton Hall 1 3 3 5 1 
			 Mount 13 8 12 15 21 
			 New Hall 23 19 29 60 48 
			 North Sea Camp 2 1 — — 1 
			 Northallerton 19 22 14 9 8 
			 Norwich 25 18 18 18 1 
			 Nottingham 16 33 15 25 47 
			 Onley 98 15 29 32 25 
			 Parc 59 61 50 51 53 
			 Parkhurst 18 15 16 3 n/a 
			 Pentonville 91 97 123 61 69 
			 Peterborough — — 75 141 115 
			 Portland 16 39 40 42 39 
			 Preston 11 18 25 29 45 
			 Ranby 9 3 3 17 17 
			 Reading 7 16 16 12 9 
			 Risley 19 27 32 29 23 
			 Rochester 16 18 23 13 4 
			 Rye Hill 21 39 65 48 43 
			 Send 4 — 2 3 1 
			 Shepton Mallet 1 — 1 — 2 
			 Shrewsbury 14 5 4 7 7 
			 Stafford 13 7 13 14 10 
			 Standford Hill — — — 1 1 
			 Stocken 10 8 12 7 9 
			 Stoke Heath 20 39 56 69 76 
			 Styal 7 12 13 32 46 
			 Sudbury 2 — 1 1 — 
			 Swaleside 17 16 9 11 8 
			 Swansea 8 4 4 6 — 
			 Swinfen Hall 9 4 10 10 9 
			 Thorn Cross 4 1 1 4 1 
			 Usk/Prescoed — — — 1 1 
			 Verne 1 6 4 — — 
			 Wakefield 8 8 9 8 15 
			 Wandsworth 78 86 87 38 36 
			 Warren Hill 12 21 34 42 50 
			 Wayland 11 9 3 9 10 
			 Wealstun 2 — 3 2 6 
			 Weare 11 6 4 — — 
			 Wellingborough 1 2 16 14 5 
			 Werrington 24 19 19 22 12 
			 Wetherby 14 77 72 60 37 
			 Whatton 1 1 — 4 12 
			 Whitemoor 15 16 19 11 22 
			 Winchester 13 15 12 10 4 
			 Wolds 8 13 4 9 3 
			 Woodhill 36 39 71 68 52 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 40 74 60 58 70 
			 Wymott 2 — 4 4 4 
			 Total 2,541 2,799 3,171 3,148 2,916 
			 (1) The 2007 figures do not include the three prisons Albany, Camphill and Parkhurst where the incident recording has transferred to the NOMIS system.

Whitemoor Prison

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations the Governor of HMP Whitemoor has received on staff morale in the last three months.

Shahid Malik: No representations have been received on staff morale in the last three months by the governor of Whitemoor.

Aviation: Excise Duties

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the impact on the number of flights using UK airports following the introduction of aviation duty.

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friends, the Member for Manchester, Blackley (Graham Stringer) and the Member for Derby, North (Mr. Laxton) and to the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Leech) on 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 789W.

Cycling

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information  (a) English local authorities outside London and  (b) Transport for London have provided to his Department about their expenditure on cycle facilities in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09.

Paul Clark: This information is no longer requested of local authorities by the Department. In 2006-07, the last year for which we can supply any information, local authorities (outside of London) best estimate of expenditure on cycling was around £36 million. Spending on cycling in London for the same period was, I understand, around £25 million.

Heathrow Airport: Carbon Emissions

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the additional average annual emissions arising from use of the third runway at Heathrow over the period 2020 to 2050.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Given present arrangements, the average additional annual carbon dioxide emissions arising from the use of additional capacity at Heathrow for the 60-year period 2020 to 2080 was set out in Annex B of the Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport: Consultation Document, page 178. This was estimated at 3.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) per year.
	This would mean that for the 30-year period 2020 to 2050, the average additional annual carbon dioxide emissions arising from the use of a third runway at Heathrow is 3.4 MtCO2, assuming no other changes.
	The Government are however strongly committed to achieving reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and aims to do so in the most effective way. This is why we have led the debate within Europe to include all flights arriving at and departing from EL) airports in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 2012 onwards.

Armed Forces: Insurance

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received on the provision of insurance for members of the armed forces; from whom such representations have been received; and what response he has made in each case.

Kevan Jones: In the last two months, Ministers have received two parliamentary questions and three letters from right hon. and hon. Members about the provision of insurance for members of the armed forces.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 November 2008,  Official Report, column 477W, to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey) and the answer my noble Friend for International Defence and Security gave in another place on 21 October 2008,  Official Report, House of Lords, columns WA89-90.
	Two letters asked for details of the insurance cover available to service personnel on operations and whether they are charged higher insurance premiums than those not deployed. The responses explained that personal insurance is optional and additional to the benefits MOD provides under the Armed Forces Pension and Compensation schemes, which have recently been increased; however MOD facilitates through commercial providers the PAX and service life insurance schemes which cover war risks and do not increase premiums for personnel on operations. In addition, MOD's Service Risks Insurance Premium Refunds Scheme contributes towards the inflated life insurance premiums which some insurers charge personnel serving on operations.
	The third letter expressed concern that young members of the armed forces pay higher vehicle insurance premiums than civilians of the same age. The response explained that some brokers have special arrangements with insurers for providing motor insurance for service personnel. In particular, the Services' Insurance and Investment Advisory Panel, who are a panel of independent insurance and investment advisers specialising in advising service personnel, can arrange motor insurance cover without premium loading and offer rates that are competitive with the rates available to civilians and in many cases are cheaper. They also provide some benefits that are not normally found in policies sold to civilians.

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what treatment centres are available in the North of England to servicemen and women  (a) suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and  (b) who have recently served in Iraq and Afghanistan; how many servicemen and women and former servicemen and women have been treated in these centres in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: Within the North of England there is one military Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) located in Catterick. DCMH Catterick is responsible for treating both regular and reserve service personnel, as out-patients, following a referral from their military general practitioner or the Reserve Mental Health Programme (RMHP) based at Chilwell. In-patient care, when necessary, is provided under contract by the Priory Group at facilities located in Darlington, Stockport, Altrincham and Bartle.
	Figures on attendances at DCMHs have only been centrally recorded since the beginning of 2007 as part of the work carried out by DAS A on the Armed Forces Psychiatric Morbidity Report; figures for 2008 are currently being verified and are not available for release. In 2007 there were 720 new attendances at DCMH Catterick, of whom 521 were assessed at their first appointment to be suffering from a mental health condition. Of those 521, 10 personnel were diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
	Information on the numbers of service personnel to be admitted as in-patients to the facilities named above for any cause between 2005-07 is shown as follows. Information is not held centrally on the specific diagnosis leading to their admittance.
	
		
			   Admittances to in-patient care 
			 2005 40 
			 2006 30 
			 2007 27 
		
	
	The treatment of veterans is the responsibility of the NHS and as such, with the exception of those eligible under RMHP, they do not receive treatment at DCMHs. However, the MOD does recognise that it has an expertise to offer in the diagnosis and treatment of service related mental health conditions. The Department of Health, in conjunction with the MOD, has launched five community mental health pilots targeted at veterans. Each site has a trained community veterans' mental health therapist. Veterans can access this service directly or through their GP, ex-service organisations, the Veterans' Welfare Service, or social service departments, the initiative is NHS-led and reflects NHS best practice. This will address assessment and treatment of veterans' mental health problems in the longer term. Within the North of England a pilot is in operation at NHS Bishop Auckland General Hospital. Subject to the outcome of the evaluation, best practice will be identified and rolled out more widely across the UK.
	In addition, to assist those veterans not in the catchment areas of one of the pilots, we have expanded our Medical Assessment Programme (MAP) based at St. Thomas' Hospital, London, to include assessment of veterans with mental health symptoms with operational service since 1982. The clinician in charge also provides support and advice to GPs and other civilian health professional requiring advice on the military aspects of treatment.

Armed Forces: Safety

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures are in place in the armed forces to consider and act upon recommendations following Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigations; what HSE reports were received in 2007; and what steps were taken as a result of each.

Bob Ainsworth: The procedures for consideration and acting upon recommendations following Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Investigations are contained within Ministry of Defence policy documentation Joint Service Publication (JSP) 815—Defence Environment and Safety Management, Annex L and JSP 375—The MOD Health and Safety Handbook, Volume 2 Leaflet 14.
	Information about HSE reports received in 2007 and the actions taken, is not held centrally and officials are collating the details. Once this work has been completed I will write to my hon. Friend.
	 Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Joan Humble:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 29 October (Official Report, column 1029W) about Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigations and reports.
	In answering your question I have interpreted the phrase 'HSE Reports' to mean Crown Censures(1) or Crown Improvement Notices. None of the latter has been reported. The Ministry of Defence received two Crown Censures during January to December 2007.
	The first Crown Censure followed the fatality of a Corporal as a result of injuries sustained from being crushed between two armoured personnel carriers being unloaded from a low loader at Teesport, Cleveland in March 2007. The second Crown Censure was a fatality as a result of crushing between a Multiple Launch Rocket System vehicle and a large fork lift truck at Albemarle Barracks, Northumberland also in March 2007.
	As a result of these tragic incidents, investigations were carried out which have led to a revision of arrangements for assessing workplace transport risks in the MOD; specifically, improvements have been made in the following areas:
	1. Safe systems of work are now in place, including carrying out risk assessments and taking action on the resulting recommendations before any work is undertaken.
	2. All staff involved are properly trained and have access to sufficient information and instruction to enable them to carry out the work safely.
	3. Staff with supervisory duties now receive improved training on those responsibilities.
	4. Interfaces between the MOD internal organisations responsible for the delivery of vehicles and those operating the vehicle fleets have been improved.
	5. Equipment maintenance practises have been reviewed and improved systems have been put in place.
	(1) Crown Censure is an administrative procedure, whereby HSE may summon a Crown employer to be censured for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act, or a subordinate regulation, which, but for Crown Immunity, would have led to prosecution with a realistic prospect of a conviction.

Defence Estates: Olympic Games 2012

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which parts of the Royal Artillery estates other than those parts designated as housing, would need to be closed to enable shooting events during the London 2012 Olympics to take place at Woolwich.

Kevan Jones: Discussions between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and the Ministry of Defence on hosting the shooting events at the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich are continuing. A priority is to minimise any disruption to the army units, soldiers and their families based at Woolwich but as yet no firm decision has been made on the design of the venue so it is too early to say if any areas will need to be closed.

Departmental Paper

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of paper used  (a) for photocopying and  (b) in printed publications by his Department was from recycled sources in each of the last two years.

Kevan Jones: The percentage of paper used for photocopying and printed publications from recycled sources in the last two years is as follows:
	For the first year, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 9 May 2007,  Official Report, column 218W.
	From October 2007 to date, 2,072,455 reams of paper have been purchased for photocopying and computer printing; 688,163 reams (33.21 per cent.) of which complied with the recycled content standard. 100 per cent. of paper used in copiers and printers in the MOD head office buildings complies with the minimum recycled content standard. The MOD is committed to improving this figure and the paper framework Catalogue Highlights and recommends the use of recycled paper. Also when MOD staff order non-recycled paper from the Office Depot help desk, they are challenged on why they could not order recycled paper.
	From April 2007 to date, 2,185.84 tonnes of paper has been purchased for printed publications; 2,149.66 tonnes (98 per cent.) of which complied with the recycled content standard.

BBC

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many times he has met the Director General of the BBC in the last month.

Andy Burnham: I met the director-general once, on 5 November.

Digital Switchover Help Scheme: Gwent

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) people aged over 75 and  (b) disabled people who have received assistance from the digital switchover help scheme in Islwyn.

Andy Burnham: Digital switchover does not take place in Islwyn until the first quarter in 2010 and the Digital Switchover Help Scheme roll out has therefore not yet reached the stage where this data are available. The Digital Switchover Help Scheme has estimated however that about 5,000 people aged 75 and over and 3,000 disabled people in Islwyn are potentially eligible for assistance.

Gambling: Young People

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether all jurisdictions which have been placed on the gambling whitelist have procedures in place that ensure age verification can be conducted within 72 hours.

Gerry Sutcliffe: It is not a specific requirement of the Government's published criteria that jurisdictions have in place procedures where age verification checks are conducted within 72 hours. However, they must have in place measures to prevent under age gambling and be able to demonstrate that their licensing and regulatory regime is sufficiently robust to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Burma: Human Rights

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals the Government has put forward to strengthen co-ordination in Burma between the UN Secretary-General's Good Offices, the Security Council, the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Human Rights Council, the Group of Friends and the Focus Group; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The Government maintain a regular dialogue with all UN bodies working in Burma, both in New York and in country, and frequently discusses Burma with partners on the Security Council, the Human Rights Council and in the two informal groupings of countries acting in support of the Secretary-General's Good Offices Mission. Our embassy in Rangoon is relied upon by a number of international institutions as a source of advice and insights on the situation in Burma.
	Through these contacts, we encourage a coherent and consistent approach to Burma aimed at improving the lives of its people, including by providing substantial humanitarian assistance and working towards a credible transition to democracy and respect for human rights.

Burma: Storms

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the extent to which the Burmese authorities have met their commitments to grant access to foreign aid workers to the areas affected by Cyclone Nargis; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: Access to the areas affected by Cyclone Nargis improved significantly after the visit of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on 23 May and the United Nations/Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in Rangoon on 25 May. The rate of delivery of aid has now been good for several months. A Tripartite Core Group (TCG) made up of the UN, ASEAN and the Burmese Government was set up after the Conference. It has played a significant role in ensuring that aid gets through, and that international experts have access to the affected areas. In late July, UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator John Holmes, declared the operation was now a "normal international relief operation". However, important challenges remain over the coming months, particularly in providing clean water during the dry season in areas where traditional sources of supply are still contaminated by salt water, and in helping poor rural families restore their livelihoods.
	We continue to work with the UN, ASEAN and international partners to press the regime to live up to its commitments to allow unfettered access to the worst affected areas.

Departmental Pay

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will review salary negotiations for public sector employees in organisations within his Department's responsibility to reflect the rise in the consumer price index to a point above three per cent.

Gillian Merron: The Government's pay policy is guided by the following principles. Public sector pay settlements should be consistent with maintaining the necessary levels of recruitment, retention and staff engagement needed to support service delivery; ensuring that total pay bills represent value for money and are affordable within Departments' overall expenditure plans; and consistent with the achievement of the inflation target. Timing of pay decisions for a particular work force depends on pay-setting arrangements for that work force.

Heathrow Airport: Official Visits

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what facilities his Department uses at Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport, to meet visiting diplomats and politicians.

Gillian Merron: The Windsor Suite at Terminal 5, which is owned and operated by BAA, is available for use by eligible diplomats and politicians. As with the other VIP suites serving terminals 1 to 4 at London Heathrow airport, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office only pays for use of the suites by those visiting the UK on state visits or as guests of the Government.

Libya: State Visits

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will facilitate a meeting between President Gadafi of Libya on his forthcoming visit to the UK and representatives of the families of victims of IRA terrorist activity in incidents where the  (a) explosives,  (b) weapons and  (c) preparation of terrorist acts had their provenance in Libya; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: In light of an increasingly busy summit schedule through to the end of the year, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has decided to recast the energy summit scheduled for December as a ministerial meeting. Libya is expected to be represented by its Oil Minister, Shokri Ghanem and not Colonel Gaddafi. The opportunity for a meeting will therefore not arise.

Government Departments: Correspondence

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2008,  Official Report, column 500W, on Government departments: correspondence, what steps are in place to ensure such messages sent are potentially retrievable for responses to requests submitted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Jack Straw: I have been asked to reply.
	Information held by a public authority will be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. A code of practice, issued under section 46, gives guidance on good practice in records management to all authorities subject to the Act.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of treating patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of excessive alcohol consumption was in each of the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: The International Classification of Diseases does not include a diagnosis specifically related to 'excessive alcohol consumption'. A 2008 paper by the Department 'The cost of alcohol harm to the NHS in England: An update to the Cabinet Office (2003) study' estimated the 2006-07 cost of hospital admissions where a primary or secondary diagnosis is wholly attributable to alcohol at £183 million in 2008-9 prices. A copy of this paper has been placed in the Library. Those diagnoses defined as wholly attributed to alcohol were:
	Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (142.6)
	Alcoholic gastritis (K29.2)
	Alcoholic myopathy (G72.1)
	Alcoholic polyneuropathy (G62.1)
	Alcohol-induced pseudo-Cushing's syndrome (E24.4)
	Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol (G31.2)
	Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol (F10)
	Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (X45)
	Ethanol poisoning (T51.0)
	Methanol poisoning (T51.1)
	Toxic effect of alcohol, unspecified (T51.9)
	Chronic pancreatitis (alcohol induced) (K86.0)
	Estimates of other hospital and non-hospital costs of treating patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of excessive alcohol consumption are not available.
	A Cabinet Office (2003) study Alcohol misuse: How much does it cost? estimated the cost of hospital admissions in 2000-01 at £126 million in 2001 prices. This used a different methodology to the Department's report and so the estimates are not directly comparable.
	Data for other years are not available.

Chlamydia

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what percentage of primary care trusts are taking part in his Department's National Chlamydia Screening Programme;
	(2)  what steps are being taken to reduce the incidence of Chlamydia amongst people aged 16 to 24 years.

Dawn Primarolo: Every primary care trust (PCT) in England is now offering Chlamydia screening through the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP). Opportunistic screening is offered to all sexually active women and men, aged under 25 years, in a variety of health and non-health care settings. The Department has made increasing screening volumes and reducing Chlamydia prevalence a priority for the national health service and it is included as a tier two indicator in the operating framework for 2008-09 to 2010-11.
	To increase awareness of sexual transmitted infections and promote the use of condoms, we launched the Condom Essential Wear campaign in November 2006. Campaign tracking indicates that behaviour within the target audience has started to change and evidence suggests a shift in condom purchasing behaviour towards the target 18 to 24 age group.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rates of  (a) type 1 and  (b) type 2 diabetes were (i) in each of the last 10 years and (ii) at the most recent date for which information is available; and how often and by what mechanism the rate is measured.

Ann Keen: Information on the number of people with diabetes is available from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF).
	Figures for the last 10 years are not available. However, the following table shows the number of people recorded on diabetes registers (including both type one and type two diabetes) from 2004-05 to 2007-08, from the QOF. It should be noted that patients will only contribute to the figures in QOF if they are registered with a general practice participating in the QOF. QOF data is collected annually and only includes people with diabetes aged 17 or over. Figures are not available broken down into type one and type two diabetes. The latest prevalence data is from June 2008.
	
		
			  Patients with a recorded diagnosis of diabetes 
			   Number 
			 2004-05 1,766,391 
			 2005-06 1,890,663 
			 2006-07 1,961,976 
			 2007-08 2,088,335

Health Living Alliance

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to identify a champion in his Department to take advantage of the experience and skills developed by members of the Health Living Alliance; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department has supported the Healthy Living Alliance (HLA) with initial set up funding and other help to ensure it has a place alongside other national public health non-government organisations (NGOs). The HLA is a member of the Department's NGO Forum which was set up and funded by the Department to facilitate dialogue between them, and with the Department and other government departments, and to enable them to contribute to the development of public health policy drawing on their expertise. The Department also has a seat on the forum to facilitate engagement with the NGO sector. There are, however, no plans to provide each NGO with a dedicated champion or contact point.

NHS: Drugs

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to end the prohibition on the purchase of additional private drugs to complement NHS treatment; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: I refer the right hon. Member to the oral statement that was made by the Secretary of State for Health on 4 November 2008,  Official Journal, column 131.
	The statement was in response to the report, "Improving access to medicines for NHS patients", published by Professor Mike Richards, the National Clinical Director for Cancer, which recommends a package of measures to widen access to drugs on the NHS, thereby reducing the need for patients to purchase additional, private treatment. However, where patients still choose to do so, revised guidance, issued in draft by the Department of Health, makes it clear that no patient should lose his or her entitlement to NHS care. A copy of the full report has been placed in the Library and can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_089927

NHS: Grayling Political Strategy

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what payments NHS Hubs  (a) has made and  (b) is contracted to make to Grayling Political Strategy; and for what purposes.

Ben Bradshaw: As of the 5 November 2008 Grayling Political Strategy has sent one invoice to NHS Innovations Centres. The total amount is £2,843.50.
	NHS Innovations comprise nine Innovation Centres, seven of which are companies limited by guarantee, two of whom are unincorporated associations. They have retained Grayling Political Strategy for a stakeholder engagement programme. Each Innovation Centre will pay approximately £5,000 for the work.

NHS: Negligence

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid out in legal costs in connection with medical negligence compensation cases by each London-based hospital trust in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The document, London Hospital Trusts' legal costs for clinical negligence between 2005 and 2008, has been placed in the Library and contains the information requested. The data covers legal costs associated with payments under the National Health Service Litigation Authority's (NHSLA) Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts and Existing Liabilities Scheme. Claims information can be found in the NHSLA's published factsheets, available on their website at:
	www.nhsla.com/Publications.

Obesity

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rate of obesity was at the latest date for which information is available.

Dawn Primarolo: The latest information on adults obesity prevalence is available from the Health Survey for England 2006 Latest trends: Adult trend tables 2006, published on 31 January 2008 for adults aged 16 and over. The information can be found on table 4. This publication has already been placed in the Library.
	The latest information on obesity prevalence among children aged 2-15 in 2006 is available from the Health Survey for England 2006 Latest trends: Children trend tables 2006, published on 31 January 2008. The information can be found on table 4. This publication has already been placed in the Library.
	Further information on children's obesity prevalence is available for those in school year reception (aged four to five) and year six (aged 10-11) from the National Child Measurement Programme: 2006-07 (NCMP). The NCMP provides the most comprehensive data on obesity among children aged four to five and 10-11 years, in England. This information is available in the National Child Measurement Programme: 2006-07 school year, headline results, published on 21 February 2008. The prevalence of obese children can be found in Table 1 (page 3). This publication has already been placed in the Library.

Royal Cornwall Hospital: Standards

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the evidential basis was for the remarks made by the Minister of State for Health Services on patient outcomes at the Royal Cornwall hospital during his interview broadcast on BBC Radio Cornwall on 14 October.

Ann Keen: A review undertaken by two of the country's leading surgeons for Upper GI cancer, Professor Mike Griffin and Bill Allum, said that
	"as soon as is practicable the Royal Cornwall hospital NHS Trust Upper GI surgery service should be discontinued and centralised within the Peninsula Network"
	Copies of the review can be found at:
	http://www.cornwall.nhs.uk/CIOSPCT/KeyDocuments/BoardSept08/UpperGIreview.pdf
	A copy has also been placed in the Library.
	They also found that the mortality for oesophagectomy at the Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust over the last four and a half years is 12.5 per cent. These results represent the same results as those quoted for units before centralisation took place. However in those Networks with centralised surgical services the most recent 2006-07 data records on hospital mortality is 4.9 per cent. and this is considered to be the current standard.
	The data reported to the South West Cancer Registry from hospital episode statistics for the period January 2003 to March 2006 is as follows.
	
		
			   Number of procedures  Deaths before 31 days  One year mortality (deaths) 
			Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust 158 11 7 33 21 
			 Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust 108 6 6 23 21 
			 Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust 80 9 11 31 39 
			 South West Strategic Health Authority 917 66 7 267 29

Smoking

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce smoking rates among those ethnic minority communities where the rates are higher than the national average.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department and the national health service makes a range of support available to all smokers who want to quit. According to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE):
	"Reducing smoking prevalence among people in routine and manual groups, some minority ethnic groups and disadvantaged communities will help reduce health inequalities more than any other public health measure"
	(NICE public health guidance 10, 2008).
	The NHS has a network of NHS stop smoking services available in communities across the country. These services are encouraged to provide stop smoking services that are accessible for all potential service users, including for smokers from minority ethnic communities. To assist with the provision of stop smoking services to smokers for ethnic communities, the Department for Communities and Local Government published "Working with Black and Minority Ethnic Communities: A guide for Stop Smoking Service Managers" earlier this year. Health trainers, recruited from local communities also encourage smokers to quit with the support of the NHS.
	The Department operates an Asian Tobacco Helpline, and makes available printed materials available in a range of languages. The NHS's "GoSmokefree" website at
	www.nhs.uk/gosmokefree
	includes downloadable resources in a range of languages. The Department also supports a number of specific projects for minority ethnic communities at regional level.

Smoking

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of a disease which can be attributed to smoking in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not available in the precise form requested. Data on NHS hospital admissions for adults aged 35 and over where there was primary diagnosis of diseases which can be caused by smoking over the period 1996-97 to 2006-07 is in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS( 1)  hospital admissions for adults aged 35 and over( 2, 3)  where there was primary diagnosis( 4)  of diseases( 5 ) which can be caused by smoking. 1996-97 to 2006-07. England 
			  Number of admissions 
			   All admissions which can be caused by smoking  Cancers which can be caused by smoking( 6)  Respiratory diseases which can be caused by smoking  Circulatory diseases which can be caused by smoking  Diseases of the digestive system which can be caused by smoking  Other diseases which can be caused by smoking 
			 1996-97 1,122,539 224,432 142,268 601,272 41,940 112,627 
			 1997-98 1,182,940 253,268 139,481 629,282 43,420 117,489 
			 1998-99 1,270,386 265,331 163,532 658,515 44,687 138,321 
			 1999-2000 1,288,702 276,897 166,146 656,510 44,440 144,709 
			 2000-01 1,277,830 274,216 152,154 651,566 41,422 158,472 
			 2001-02 1,283,477 273,228 161,897 647,561 39,168 161,623 
			 2002-03 1,337,860 283,503 168,838 666,149 38,877 180,493 
			 2003-04 1,387,967 287,919 189,903 672,441 39,361 198,343 
			 2004-05 1,406,264 294,443 195,817 674,539 38,306 203,159 
			 2005-06 1,434,568 317,774 197,980 685,144 40,067 193,603 
			 2006-07 1,431,831 324,936 201,578 679,625 42,038 183,654 
			 (1 )NHS hospitals and activity performed in the independent sector in England commissioned by the NHS. The data include private patients in NHS hospitals (but not private patients in private hospitals). (2 )Figures are presented for adults aged 35 and over except for admissions for age related cataracts where patients must be 45 years and over and admissions for hip fracture where patients must be aged 55 years and older due to risk ratios only being available for these age groups. (3 )The figures exclude people whose gender was unknown or unspecified and whose country of residence was not confirmed as England. (4 )The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital (5 )ICD-10 codes used have been updated since the 2007 bulletin. See Appendix C for corresponding ICD-10 codes used with aforementioned categories. (6 )Figures exclude admissions for cervical cancer whose gender was specified as male.  Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics. The NHS Information Centre, 2008

Access NI

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the performance of Access NI against its objectives.

Paul Goggins: Since its launch in April 2008, AccessNI has received more than 70,000 disclosure applications. While AccessNI has maintained service delivery within the performance targets for basic and standard disclosures, it has failed to achieve its targets in relation to enhanced disclosures.
	Additional resources have been made available and I remain confident that the four week target for enhanced disclosures will be achieved before the end of the year.

Access NI

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many  (a) basic,  (b) standard and  (c) enhanced applications have been processed by Access NI since 1 April 2008; and what percentage of these was completed within the relevant performance target time.

Paul Goggins: Statistics collated up to 31 October 2008 indicate that AccessNI has received 9,040 basic applications, 2,377 standard applications and 57,183 enhanced applications. During the period in question AccessNI has maintained a performance target to complete 90 per cent. of basic applications within two weeks and 90 per cent. of standard applications within three weeks.
	Additional resources have been made available and I remain confident that the four week target for enhanced disclosures will be achieved before the end of the year.

Asylum: Iraq

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqis have been granted resettlement in the UK under the Locally Employed Staff Assistance Scheme since its inception.

Phil Woolas: As of 28 October 123 locally employed staff have been resettled to the UK under the Locally Employed Staff Assistance Scheme since its inception.
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Dungavel Detention Centre

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of individuals held at Dungavel detention centre in each of the last five years had criminal records in respect of offences committed  (a) in the UK and  (b) overseas.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 3 November 2008
	We do not hold this data centrally and to provide it would require each detainee's file to be inspected independently which would be at disproportionate cost. All detainees are, however, risk assessed before being transferred to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre, which includes a check against the police national computer to highlight criminal records and any other known risk factors.

Genetics: Databases

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what race equality impact assessment has been made of the national DNA database.

Alan Campbell: A stage 1 equality impact assessment (EIA) of the National DNA database (NDNAD) was conducted by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) in June-July 2007. This was an initial screening process to identify any potential equality issues in NDNAD processes. It made a number of recommendations which are being progressed by a working group comprising NPIA officials and representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the NDNAD Ethics Group. It also recommended that the EIA should be reviewed after further information had been gathered in 12 months time.
	The NPIA also carried out an initial stage 1 equality impact assessment of the ACPO DNA Good Practice Guide in June 2007. The ACPO guide provides good practice guidance for police forces on the use of DNA, including the taking of DNA samples from persons in custody. The stage 1 EIA made 10 recommendations which are also currently under consideration by the working group.
	The working group has met several times since early autumn 2007. It has considered all the recommendations from both stage 1 EIAs and future action required. This consideration initiated the stage 2 EIA review process which is on-going, looking at any potential equality issues which were identified in greater depth. Work on some of the actions has been completed, but work on the majority is still in progress.
	Copies of the two stage 1 assessments have been placed in the Library. It is anticipated that the stage 2 assessments will be available in December 2008. Copies of the stage 2 EIAs will be published on the NPIA website in late 2008 or early 2009.

Immigration

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to enable parents of dependent children, where the children are UK citizens and the parents foreign nationals, to work.

Phil Woolas: A parent of a child who is a British citizen is entitled to work in the UK if they have been granted leave on the basis of employment; leave on the basis of their relationship with a British citizen or settled person; leave as a student, provided they work only part-time during term time or full-time during vacations; discretionary leave, refugee status or humanitarian protection; or indefinite leave to remain.
	In addition an asylum applicant may apply for permission to take up employment if a decision at first instance has not been taken on the applicant's asylum application within one year of the date on which it was recorded. The application to take employment will only be considered if the delay in reaching a decision cannot be attributed to the applicant. If permission to work is granted, this precludes self-employment, business or professional activity.

National Asylum Support Service Policy Bulletin 85

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the National Asylum Support Service Policy Bulletin 85 does not apply to failed asylum seekers  (a) in receipt of Section 4 support and  (b) without dependent children.

Phil Woolas: Policy Bulletin 85 (Dispersing Asylum Seekers with Health Care Needs) does not apply to supported persons in receipt of support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, because the policy bulletin was published in December 2005, which was before we dispersed those in receipt of section 4 support. Policy Bulletin 85 will be replaced by a new asylum instruction which will cover those in receipt of section 4 support. The new asylum instruction has already been consulted on and the UK Border Agency aims to publish the new instruction before the end of the year.
	The principles set out in Policy Bulletin 85 on health care similarly apply to the dispersal of those granted support under section 4, regardless of whether there are dependants. Information on the dispersal of section 4 supported persons is set out within policy bulletin 31 (Dispersal Guidelines) and in the Section 4 Support Asylum Instruction. Information on health treatment available to refused asylum seekers is set out within the Section 4 Frequently Asked Questions guidance document.

Flood Control: Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on flood defences in each of the last five years. [Official Report, 13 January 2009, Vol. 486, c. 4MC.]

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 6 November 2008
	DEFRA provides funding to operating authorities for flood defences from the allocation of funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management. Over the past five financial years this allocation totalled:
	
		
			  Financial year  DEFRA funding (£ million) 
			 2007-08 502.7 
			 2006-07 505.2 
			 2005-06 514.8 
			 2004-05 415.8 
			 2003-04 135.5

Developing Countries: Construction

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of work undertaken in relation to developing countries by the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative.

Gareth Thomas: The Construction Sector Transparency (CoST) initiative was launched in Tanzania on 22 May 2008. It is too early at this stage to evaluate the effectiveness of this initiative. A series of baseline studies will be initiated in each pilot country providing a basis against which the effectiveness of CoST will be assessed.
	Progress has been made in the set up of CoST. An international secretariat has been appointed and is now working with seven countries to establish local multi-stakeholder groups—including government, private sector and civil society—which will then agree and take forward country work programmes. The Governments of Ethiopia, Malawi, Philippines, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Vietnam and Zambia have all committed to implement the pilot programme. The World Bank and Secretariat are active in providing technical support to these CoST countries. An International Advisory Group (IAG), made up of representatives from CoST countries, international NGOs, construction companies, and professional organisations as well as DFID and the World Bank has been set up to review outcomes of the pilot programme. The first meeting of the IAG will be held in Manila, Philippines in January 2009.

Developing Countries: Medical Treatments

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the country pilots launched by the Medicines Transparency Alliance on increasing transparency and accountability in the medicines supply chain.

Ivan Lewis: The Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) was launched by the Secretary of State on 15 May 2008. It is too early at this stage to evaluate the effectiveness of this initiative. Scoping reports that informed the design of MeTA, and a series of baseline studies now being initiated in each country, will provide a basis against which the effectiveness of MeTA can be judged at the end of the pilot phase. Effectiveness will be measured in terms of increased transparency and accountability around the price, availability, quality and promotion of medicines.
	Progress has been made in implementing MeTA. An international secretariat has been appointed and is now working with seven countries to establish local multi-stakeholder groups—including government, private sector and civil society—which will then agree and take forward country work programmes. The Philippines is already implementing MeTA and launch dates have been set in Ghana, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Peru. Work continues with Uganda and Zambia to finalise their plans. The World Bank and World Health Organisation are active in providing technical support to MeTA countries. And the first meeting of the International Advisory Group was successfully held in London in September. It was attended by representatives from the MeTA countries and leading figures from international NGOs, pharmaceutical companies, professional organisations, investors and international development partners.
	Further information on MeTA can be found at
	www.medicinestransparency.org.

Developing Countries: Politics and Government

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Governance and Transparency Fund in the development of accountability mechanisms between citizens and governments in developing countries.

Ivan Lewis: Implementation of the 38 programmes being supported through the Governance and Transparency Fund has only recently begun. We do not, as yet, have any project reports on which to base assessments. However, development of accountability mechanisms between citizens and governments is central to the fund and is an area which future reports will focus on.

Human Rights: Women

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial support his Department has provided to UNIFEM's Regional Programme on Empowering Women Migrant Workers in Asia in each of the last five years.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID) contribution to UNIFEM's regional programme on Empowering Women Migrant Workers in Asia began in 2005. By calendar year the sums disbursed have been:
	
		
			  Calendar year  Sums disbursed (£) 
			 2005 1,170,656 
			 2006 130,000 
			 2007 589,108 
			 2008 321,120 
		
	
	DFID also provides about £3 million a year to UNIFEM centrally as core funding.

India: HIV Infection

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made in reducing the incidence of HIV and AIDS in India among  (a) women,  (b) men who have sex with men,  (c) injecting drug users,  (d) sex workers and  (e) prisoners.

Michael Foster: HIV incidence data are difficult to collect on a large scale. According to India's National AIDS Commission, the HIV prevalence rate among women in India fell from 0.36 per cent. in 2002 and 0.27 per cent. in 2007, showing good progress in containing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the general population. In the same five year period, the Department for International Development (DFID) contributed over £69 million towards halting the AIDS epidemic in India, working both with Government and directly with civil society
	HIV prevalence data for specific high-risk groups only became available India-wide in 2006. The National AIDS Commission reports prevalence among sex workers of 4.9 per cent. in 2006 and 5.1 per cent. in 2007; among injecting drug users of 6.9 per cent. in 2006 and 7.2 per cent. in 2007; and among men who have sex with men of 6.4 per cent. in 2006 and 7.4 per cent. in 2007. No disaggregated data are currently available nationwide on prisoners. DFID's support to the National AIDS Control Programme III began in 2007 and emphasises targeted interventions for high risk groups.

India: HIV Infection

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has provided to the BBC World Service for campaigns to counter HIV and AIDS in India in each of the last five years.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided the following funding to the BBC World Service Trust between 2003 and 2008 for HIV and AIDS campaigns supporting the government of India's national AIDS control programme:
	
		
			   £ 
			  Financial year  Amount funded 
			 2003-04 505,167 
			 2004-05 1,438,693 
			 2005-06 2,928,106 
			 2006-07 1,920,279 
			 2007-08 223,850

India: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has provided to the Indian Network of Positive People living with HIV and AIDS in each of the last five years.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided £217,215 to the Indian Network of Positive People Living with HIV and AIDS between February 2006 and March 2007. The purpose was to enhance the contribution of people living with AIDS in national efforts to halt the HIV epidemic in India.
	In addition, DFID is currently supporting the Global Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS to (i) develop its institutional capacity and involve its global and regional networks in designing and implementing AIDS programmes at country level and (ii) strengthen civil society nationally to deliver informed, evidence-based HIV and AIDS advocacy. Some of this support benefits the Indian Network of Positive People Living with HIV and AIDS.

India: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's expenditure on elementary education in India in increasing access to such education.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) jointly assesses the effectiveness of its expenditure on elementary education in India on a six monthly basis with its partners, the Government of India, the governments of the country's 35 states and union territories, the World Bank and the European Commission. The findings of these joint reviews are in the public domain and available on the Government of India's SSA website at:
	ssa@nic.in
	Progress has been largely positive. Highlights include a reduction of out of school children aged between 6 and 14 years in India from 25 million in 2003-04 to 4.5 million in 2007-08; the construction of over 250,000 new elementary over the last six years; the distribution of 160 million free textbooks annually; and special programmes to get girls and the most disadvantaged children into school. DFID's current support to SSA has a strong focus on improving the quality of education, where substantial progress is required.

India: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's expenditure on reproductive and child health in India.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) jointly assesses the effectiveness of its expenditure towards the Government of India's Reproductive and Child Health II Programme (2005-2011) on a six monthly basis with its partners, the Government of India, selected state governments, the World Bank and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The findings of these reviews are in the public domain and are available from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:
	http://mohfw.nic.in/
	Provisional data from the 2008 district level household survey show improvement in some critical indicators of maternal and child health, in particular a sharp rise since 2005 in child immunisation rates and the proportion of births taking place in health facilities, as well as a steady increase in the percentage of children breastfed within one hour of birth. However, overall India remains off track to meet the millennium development goals for maternal mortality and child mortality.

Indonesia: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the results of the £25 million joint venture between his Department and the Indonesian government.

Michael Foster: The Multi-Stakeholder Forestry programme (MFP) in Indonesia ran from 2000 to 2007. The aim of the programme was to improve the rights of local communities to forest resources and reduce illegal logging. Independent evaluations of the project's impact on illegal logging, poverty, community forestry and conflict were conducted and published in 2006. A final project completion report published in 2007 gave the project the highest achievable rating. Further information can be obtained on the DFID website:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/casestudies/files/asia/indonesia-forestry-democracy.asp.
	The project resulted in Government better realising their obligations to forest communities, including the passing of 70 local-government decrees on community-based forest management in project areas. In the 300 project sites, covering 2.25 million hectares of forest, local people now have more economic opportunities and higher-value markets for their products. In Sulawesi, MFP support for a forest certification scheme means communities now get 11 times more for their timber than previously. Research by the projects' civil-society partners brought about a presidential decree on illegal logging.

International Assistance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made on the Millennium Development Goal  (a) to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger,  (b) to ensure all children receive primary education,  (c) on gender equality,  (d) on infant mortality,  (e) on maternal health,  (f) to combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases,  (g) to improve environmental sustainability and  (h) to build a global partnership for development.

Ivan Lewis: The official assessment of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is made by United Nations (UN) each year. The latest assessment can be found in the UN's annual report "The Millennium Development Goals Report 2008", published in September 2008. This report is available at:
	http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2008/MDG_Report_2008_En.pdf

Lesotho: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department is providing to entrepreneurs in Lesotho in 2008-09.

Ivan Lewis: Through the Lesotho Priority Support Programme, the Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting a variety of Government and private sector institutions to deliver services and products to entrepreneurs in Lesotho. These include:
	1. A 'One Stop Shop' facility—reducing paperwork for entrepreneurs to license their businesses as well as reducing time in issuing import permits (down from four days to 1.5 days) and export permits (down from two/three days to five hours);
	2. Developing and disseminating, in Lesotho and abroad, 6,500 copies of the 'Doing Business in Lesotho' guide. This provides comprehensive information for domestic and foreign entrepreneurs on establishing a business;
	3. Carrying out a needs assessment of 610 small businesses in Lesotho to help develop more relevant and tailored support from Government and donors;
	4. Providing support and training to the Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation (BEDCO) on their Small and Medium Enterprise White Paper. BEDCO now has a strategic plan and is improving the effectiveness of 'business incubators' they manage;
	5. Providing further support to BEDCO to collate and disseminate a catalogue of business development service providers for small businesses; and
	6. Developing and disseminating 5,000 copies of an HIV and Aids Guide, 16,000 pamphlets and 5,000 posters to support workplace HIV and Aids programmes.

Nepal: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department has taken to develop roads, agriculture and community forestry for poor excluded people in Nepal.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has spent just over £75 million on roads, agriculture and community forestry in Nepal since 2000. All these programmes were targeted at poor and excluded groups.
	Over 1,060 kilometres of rural roads have been built by poor local people, with wages paid for by DFID. Our support to Helvetas has built 163 new footbridges bringing 371,000 people closer to markets, schools and health clinics. DFID has spent £47 million on these investments since 2002.
	DFID's Agriculture Perspective Plan Support Programme has supported poor and excluded groups in some of the most remote districts improve farm production and the marketing of farm products. The programme has improved the incomes of over 500,000 people, lifting 87,500 people out of poverty since 2002 at a cost of £147 per person.
	The Livelihoods and Forestry Programme (LFP) has been credited as an international example of good practice in community forestry supporting community forest user groups that have reached 460,000 Nepalese households, or 10 per cent. of the total population. In 2007-08, LFP user groups generated £730,000 (Rs 90 million) from the sale of their own forest products to pay for improved local services and created 1.67 million person days of local employment managing community forests—equivalent to about 5,500 full-time jobs. More significantly the community forestry model developed with DFID support has spread across the country. 40 per cent. of households are involved nationally and many disadvantaged groups have been empowered by their involvement (see LFP case study) creating over six million days of employment for poor people per year.

Nepal: Politics and Government

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports he has received of the outcome of the 2007 talks between the Janajati Federation and the Nepal government on increasing the political representation of excluded people in Nepal.

Michael Foster: Talks between the government of Nepal and the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) resulted in a 20-point agreement reached on 7 August 2007. The Indigenous Nationalities Joint Struggle Committee, which was backing the Janajati (indigenous communities), also signed the agreement.
	The agreement required political parties to ensure proportional inclusion of all castes and Janajatis while nominating candidates for the election to the Constituent Assembly (CA). Other important provisions of the agreement include: creation of a state restructuring commission, official recognition for local languages other than Nepali, and the ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention no. 169.
	The agreement plus changes in the electoral law led to a reservation of some CA seats for Janajatis. As a result, Janajatis account for 35 per cent. of the total membership (601 seats), which also corresponds to their share in the population. This is an improvement over the representation of Janajatis in the previous parliament elected in 1999, which included 25 per cent. Janajati MPs.
	The ILO convention no. 169 has been ratified in the meantime but the government is yet to form the agreed state restructuring commission.

Nigeria

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of progress made in Nigeria in  (a) improving the management of oil revenues,  (b) strengthening systems of formal accountability and  (c) increasing non oil-related economic growth since 2002.

Ivan Lewis: The information is as follows.
	 (a) Nigeria has made good progress in improving the management of its oil revenues since the restoration of civilian rule in 1999. In 2004 the Government introduced an oil price based fiscal rule (OPBFR) which was given legal force within the federal-level Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2007. The FRA provides a framework for fiscal management and institutionalises reforms intended to enhance fiscal transparency, accountability and medium-term fiscal sustainability. All oil revenue above a predetermined threshold has been held in a special excess crude account (ECA). Application of the OPBFR rule has led to considerable budget surpluses and quick accumulation of foreign currency reserves, which currently amount to over US$60 billion, covering more than 30 months of imports. Debt management has also improved greatly. In 2006, Nigeria used US$18 billion of its oil savings to settle its Paris Club debt obligations, leading to a public debt to GDP ratio of 12.5 per cent. of GDP in 2007. This is lower than the 34 per cent. median for countries with the same sovereign credit risk rating of BB-. External debt is now only 16 per cent. of total stock, most of this being multilateral debt contracted on concessional terms.
	Oil accounts for over 90 per cent. of total government revenues. Since 1999, approximately half of all revenues go to the federal government and the rest to state and local governments. Under Nigeria's constitution, states have considerable autonomy. A major challenge to further improving fiscal policy in Nigeria is incentivising states to adopt sound public financial management policies, despite pressure to spend the increased revenues from higher oil prices, and building states capacity to implement the necessary reforms.
	 (b) In addition to the reforms aforementioned, Nigeria has also taken significant steps to strengthen its systems of accountability. It is now a global leader in the extractive industries transparency initiative (EITI), which aims to generate greater transparency in the flow of revenues from extractive industries. The Nigerian EITI (NEITI) successfully completed a full physical, process and financial audit of the oil and gas sector for the period 1999 to 2004. The 2005 audit is almost complete. In 2007, Nigeria became the first country to enact the EITI into legalisation. Further work is needed to institutionalise NEITI, and enforce the NEITI Act. Nigeria is also taking steps to improve the transparency and efficiency of its budget process, including the development of medium term sector strategies within a medium term economic framework. Progress on institutionalising budget reforms has been slow due to resistance from political interests, poor coordination, and weak capacity. Public procurement legislation was recently introduced, which aims to improve the transparency and effectiveness of public expenditure. Implementation and enforcement of this legislation could be impeded by weak capacity in ministries.
	 (c) Non-oil growth to generate employment and raise incomes is a priority of the Nigerian Government. The non-oil sector provides the majority of livelihoods, mostly in agriculture, and is currently contributing strongly to overall growth. The IMF estimates that non-oil growth in 2007 was 9.6 per cent., compared to annual averages of 7.8 per cent. across all sectors for 2004 to 2007, and just 2 per cent. between 1980 and 2002. Agriculture, construction, telecommunications, transportation, retail and wholesale have all grown strongly. However, despite the strong response of the non-oil sector to reforms to date, major challenges remain. Nigeria is ranked 118 out of 181 countries in the World Bank Doing Business 2009 survey, and Nigeria's huge infrastructure gap must be addressed if the economy is to fully realise its growth potential. Non-oil exports grew by 30 per cent. in 2007 but still represent just 2 per cent. of total exports and consist mainly of primary agricultural commodities. The recent strong performance of the telecommunication and financial sectors demonstrate their growth potential once regulatory frameworks are established and macroeconomic conditions are favourable.

Overseas Aid

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how the United Kingdom has met its commitments to deliver the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); and if he will place in the Library a copy of the addresses he made during the special United Nations General Assembly session on the MDGs in September 2008.

Douglas Alexander: The UK is fully committed to meeting the millennium development goals (MDGs) and is on track to meet the UN target of spending 0.7 per cent. of gross national income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA) by 2015.
	Important progress has been made towards the MDGs, but there is still a long way to go. At the half way mark to 2015, the UN High Level Event (HLE) last month in New York provided an opportunity to strengthen the commitment of the international community, including the private sector and foundations, to the MDGs. The UN Secretary General (UN SG) announced commitments of $16 billion at the closing plenary of the event. Of these commitments, the UK estimates that at least $11.5 billion represents new commitments (for education, malaria, health and food security) but we are waiting for the UN to confirm these figures with member states and other stakeholders.
	Further information on how the UK has met its MDG commitments is available online:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/mdg/progress-07.asp.
	Going forward we must ensure the commitments made at the UN HLE are delivered. The next major international meeting will be in Doha where the international community will come together to review progress on financing for development.
	I did not address the UN General Assembly on the MDGs in September. The Prime Minister did however and his speech can be found on the No. 10 website:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/.

Overseas Aid: Water

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many water wells his Department has funded in each year since 1997; how much this programme has cost, broken down by country; and what estimate he has made of the number of lives that have been saved as a result.

Ivan Lewis: Over the last six years the Department for International Development (DFID) has provided £775 million for water supply and sanitation programmes. It is estimated that these programmes have resulted in 25 million people gaining access to these basic services. It is not possible to disaggregate data on our funding specifically for water wells, nor accurately estimate how many lives have been saved directly.
	A detailed breakdown of DFID support for the water sector over the last five years can be found in the two reports titled 'Financial Support to the Water Sector 2002-2004' and 'Financial Support to the Water Sector 2004-2006'. These are both available on the DFID website and the Library:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/.

Sierra Leone: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made by his Department in helping Sierra Leone to  (a) attract private investment by simplifying regulations,  (b) improve its tax collection,  (c ) manage its natural resources through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and  (d) tackle corruption.

Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) has been supporting the Government of Sierra Leone to reduce the administrative barriers to investment. As a direct result, it is now the easiest place to start a business in West Africa according to the 2009 Doing Business survey at:
	http://www.doingbusiness.org/
	DFID is funding a seven-year programme (2005-12) of assistance to the National Revenue Authority (NRA). This support will modernise the NRA and implement effective strategies to broaden the tax base and account for revenues it collects.
	As part of a Diamond Sector Programme (2004-07) DFID has funded and provided technical support to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Sierra Leone; enabling more transparency and accountability by publishing and verifying transactions between Government and companies in the sector. Sierra Leone was accepted as an EITI candidate country on 22 February 2008 and has until 9 March 2010 to undertake validation to obtain full membership of the initiative.
	DFID has been the principle donor to the Sierra Leone Anti Corruption Commission, since its establishment in 2000. Until recently, progress in tackling corruption had been slow and political commitment weak. However, initiatives under the new Government such as the appointment of a capable and independent Anti Corruption Commissioner, a revised Anti Corruption Act and a new National Anti Corruption Strategy gives us some confidence that we will see progress in the fight against corruption in Sierra Leone. Recognising this renewed commitment, we are looking at a new support package for the ACC with donor partners.

Sudan: Human Rights

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool has had on the humanitarian situation in Darfur.

Ivan Lewis: The UK Government are addressing the humanitarian situation in Darfur through the Department for International Development's (DFID) bilateral programme rather than through the Conflict Prevention Pool (CPP). We monitor the humanitarian situation closely and discuss it regularly with the British embassy, the joint DFID-FCO Sudan unit and with development partners in Sudan. DFID's programme includes an annual contribution to the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), which allows the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator to target urgent humanitarian needs. In 2008 we have provided £40 million for the CHF—around 50 per cent. of the total.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Disability and Work Division's Employment and Support Allowance design team has undertaken an impact assessment study for the introduction of employment and support allowance (ESA), with particular regard to the effects on expenditure on current incapacity benefit and income claimants and new ESA claimants; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 October 2008
	I can confirm an Impact Assessment was conducted for the Welfare Reform Bill that introduced the employment and support allowance.
	The "Welfare Reform Bill 2006—Regulatory Impact Assessment" can be found on the internet at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/docs/WelfareReformRIA.pdf
	The introduction of employment and support allowance will not affect the level of benefit expenditure on existing incapacity benefits customers, including contributory incapacity benefit and income support on grounds of incapacity. However, it will affect the level of benefit expenditure on new claimants receiving employment and support allowance for the first time instead of incapacity benefit.
	According to our latest estimates, paying these people employment and support allowance rates will cost nearly £400 million more spread over the first five years, including the knock on to housing benefit expenditure, compared to paying the incapacity benefit rates.
	The £400 million arises largely because, under employment and support allowance, claimants receive an increased rate of benefit at the 14(th) week, much sooner than under the incapacity benefits system, where higher rates are typically payable after a year of incapacity.

Fit for Work Service

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for a trial of the Fit for Work Service, as referred to in the Green Paper No One Written Off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility.

Tony McNulty: We intend to begin piloting the Fit for Work Service in locations across Great Britain from 2009.
	We will provide further information on the Fit for Work Service in the Government's response to Dame Carol Black's Review of the health of Britain's working age population, which will be published later this year.

New Deal for 50 Plus

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many individuals were enrolled in the New Deal 50 plus programme in each month since its launch;
	(2)  how many individuals are enrolled in the New Deal 50 plus programme.

Tony McNulty: The available information on the number of individuals enrolled on the New Deal 50 Plus in each month is in the table.
	
		
			  New Deal 50 plus—Starters (Individuals) since January 2004 People starting: Time Series—month of starting 
			   Total 
			 January 2004 3,860 
			 February 2004 3,100 
			 March 2004 3,480 
			 April 2004 2,660 
			 May 2004 2,560 
			 June 2004 2,540 
			 July 2004 3,320 
			 August 2004 2,890 
			 September 2004 2,640 
			 October 2004 3,670 
			 November 2004 2,570 
			 December 2004 2,420 
			 January 2005 2,410 
			 February 2005 2,600 
			 March 2005 2,360 
			 April 2005 2,670 
			 May 2005 2,250 
			 June 2005 1,950 
			 July 2005 2,470 
			 August 2005 1,800 
			 September 2005 2,220 
			 October 2005 1,840 
			 November 2005 2,060 
			 December 2005 1,810 
			 January 2006 1,600 
			 February 2006 1,700 
			 March 2006 1,950 
			 April 2006 1,230 
			 May 2006 1,480 
			 June 2006 1,670 
			 July 2006 1,330 
			 August 2006 1,310 
			 September 2006 1,510 
			 October 2006 1,260 
			 November 2006 1,450 
			 December 2006 1,330 
			 January 2007 1,430 
			 February 2007 1,460 
			 March 2007 1,620 
			 April 2007 1,090 
			 May 2007 1,080 
			 June 2007 1,150 
			 July 2007 850 
			 August 2007 1,070 
			 September 2007 800 
			 October 2007 880 
			 November 2007 1,190 
			 December 2007 670 
			 January 2008 820 
			 February 208 1,250 
			 March 2008 780 
			 April 2008 870 
			 May 2008 890 
			 Total 97,820 
			  Notes: 1. Definitions and conventions: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Figures may not sum to total due to rounding. 2. Information on the month of starting is available from January 2004 (the programme was introduced in April 2000). The latest data is to May 2008. 3. This information is published at http://83.244.183.180/new_deals/nd50plus/live/tabtool.html 4. Statistics relating to current participants on New Deal 50 Plus are under review and will be released as soon as possible. The available information is in the table.  Source:  Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate.

Poverty: Children

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent assessment is of the Government's progress towards meeting its targets to reduce child poverty.

Kitty Ussher: We have lifted 600,000 children out of relative poverty since 1999, and around a further 500,000 will be lifted out of relative poverty as a result of policies already agreed and in the process of being implemented.
	We will continue to do everything we can to support low-income families with children. This is why the Prime Minister announced in September that we will enshrine in legislation our commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020.

Social Security Benefits: Applications

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of support group employment and support allowance claims which last for  (a) less than three months, ( b) between three months and one year,  (c) between one and two years, (d) between two and three years and  (e) more than three years.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Employment and support allowance was introduced on 27 October 2008. Therefore there have been no outturn data yet. However, estimates have been made, which show expected claim durations. These figures are not an assessment of the aims or effect of the introduction of the new benefit.
	Details of the proportion of people remaining on benefit after particular periods provided in the following table are in line with the cautious and prudent approach to making fiscal projections, where the impact of existing and proposed policies is taken into account once there is robust evidence of their effect, but the impact of new or planned policies is not considered where the evidence is more limited.
	The historical data on severely disabled incapacity benefit cases show that they leave benefit very slowly as it takes longer for them to adapt to their conditions. Virtually no one who is severely disabled leaves benefit within three months, though outflows from this group start to rise over time.
	
		
			  Estimated proportion of employment and support allowance support group claimants remaining on benefit after a particular period of time 
			   Percentage 
			 Up to 13 weeks 99.8 
			 Up to 6 months 98.4 
			 Up to 12 months 92.5 
			 Up to 24 months 80.7 
			 Up to 30 months 78.8 
			 30 months+ 76.4 
			  Notes: 1. Employment and support allowance was introduced on 27 October 2008 and replaces incapacity benefit and income support on the grounds of sickness or disability for new claimants. 2. Estimates do not take into account new or planned policies where evidence is more limited. 3. Estimates are based on the latest available data and are subject to revision as new data becomes available. 4. Estimates relate to employment and support allowance support group awards for adults of working-age. 5. Estimates are extrapolated from the historic administrative data on survival of the most severely disabled on incapacity benefits.

Social Security Benefits: Applications

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of main phase employment and support allowance claims which last for  (a) less than 13 weeks,  (b) between 13 and 28 weeks,  (c) between 28 weeks and one year,  (d) between one and two years,  (e) between two and three years and  (f) more than three years.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 September 2008
	Employment and support allowance was introduced on 27 October 2008. Therefore there has been no outturn data yet. However, estimates have been made, which show expected claim durations. These figures are not an assessment of the aims or effect of the introduction of the new benefit.
	Details of the proportions of claimants remaining on benefit after particular periods provided in the following table are in line with the cautious and prudent approach to making fiscal projections, where the impact of existing and proposed policies is taken into account once there is robust evidence of their effect, but the impact of new or planned policies is not considered where the evidence is more limited.
	
		
			  Estimated proportions of employment and support allowance claimants remaining on benefit after a particular period of time 
			   Claimants remaining on benefit (percentage) 
			 Up to 13 weeks 61.3 
			 Up to 6 months 49.4 
			 Up to 12 months 33.3 
			 Up to 24 months 28.0 
			 Up to 30 months 26.0 
			 30 months + 25.2 
			  Notes: 1. Employment and support allowance was introduced on 27 October 2008 and replaced incapacity benefit and income support on the grounds of sickness or disability for new claimants.  2. Estimates do not take into account new or planned policies where evidence is more limited.  3. Estimates are based on the latest available data and are subject to revision as new data become available.  4. Estimates relate to all employment and support allowance awards for adults of working-age.  5. Estimates are extrapolated from the historic incapacity benefits data from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study with adjustments made to allow for the impact of Pathways to Work and employment and support allowance.

Social Security Benefits: Carers

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost implications of moving carers currently in receipt of income support onto a modified form of jobseekers allowance; what other impact assessment of the change he has made; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 20 October 2008
	We have no specific costs that can be directly attributed to moving income support carers to a modified jobseeker's allowance as they constitute a minority of the income support caseload that would be moved. As such, the work we have done to cost a move to a modified jobseeker's allowance has been on the basis of moving the entire caseload. However, there would be no change in the amount of benefit paid to carers on income support nor would there be any additional one-off implementation costs associated with this specific group. There would also be no increased requirements placed upon carers.
	The impact assessment produced alongside the Green Paper provided some high-level information about the proposal to move income support cases onto jobseeker's allowance in so far as it applied to lone parents. Further details will be provided once the policy has been reviewed in the light of responses to the consultation.

Social Security Benefits: Overpayments

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was overpaid in benefits through  (a) fraud and  (b) error to claimants who were deceased in each year since 1997 for which information is available.

Tony McNulty: This information is not available. The fraud and error data collected is not broken down to a level required to identify this category separately.

English Language: Immigrants

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much was spent by his Department on English for Speakers of Other Languages courses for immigrants in each of the last 10 years.

Si�n Simon: Since 2001, the Government fund English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses through the Skills for Life strategy as part of the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC's) overall adult skills budget.
	The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) calculates the total amounts spent on Skills for Life ESOL as follows:
	
		
			million 
			 2000/01 103 
			 2001/02 185 
			 2002/03 235 
			 2003/04 267 
			 2004/05 289 
			 2005/06 298 
			 2006/07 289 
		
	
	The data collected by LSC covers all eligible ESOL learners in England whether they are long-term residents or recently arrived in the UK.

Economic and Monetary Union

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next plans to publish an assessment of whether the UK has met the five economic tests to join the euro; and what preparatory work his officials are undertaking for such an assessment.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 10 November 2008
	The Chancellor announced in Budget 2008 that, the Government did not propose a euro assessment to be initiated at the time of this Budget. The Treasury will again review the situation at the Budget next year as required by the then Chancellor's statement in 2003.

Financial Markets

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the effect on financial markets of US  (a) government policy and  (b) banking practices on lending standards; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: It is not the practice of the Government to provide assessments of the policies of overseas governments or institutions.

Government Assistance: Disadvantaged

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to support families with incomes less than 60 per cent. of median income and with family members with autism who are experiencing difficulties as a result of the credit crunch and the recession.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 15 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1311W, and the answer given by my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Angela Eagle) to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 14 July 2008,  Official Report, column 140W, and the answer by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland (Dr. Kumar) on 17 July 2008,  Official Report, column 631W.
	Disabled people have access to a range of benefits in recognition of their extra support needs. The Employment and Support Allowance offers financial help and personal support to disabled people who are out of work, and Disability Living Allowance provides a contribution towards the extra costs arising from disability. The disability premium in income-related benefits is also paid in recognition that the least well-off disabled people need additional help.

Tax Havens

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs has tax information-sharing agreements with  (a) the Crown Dependencies,  (b) Monaco,  (c) Liechtenstein and  (d) Andorra.

Stephen Timms: The Government signed a new Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the Government of the Isle of Man on 29 September 2008. This agreement is not yet in force. However, the United Kingdom already exchanges information for certain direct tax purposes with the Crown Dependencies under the terms of our bilateral double taxation arrangements with Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The Crown Dependences also have agreements with the United Kingdom under the framework of Council Directive 2003/48/EC, which agreements provide for exchange of information by the UK and a withholding tax on savings income or disclosure of information by the dependencies.
	In addition, the Isle of Man exchanges information to enable a correct assessment of VAT with the United Kingdom, as well as with other EU member states, in accordance with the provisions set out in EC Regulation 1798/03 on Administrative Co-operation in the VAT field. These arrangements apply to the Isle of Man by virtue of undertakings given in the 1979 UK-Isle of Man Customs and Excise Agreement and Article 7(2) of VAT Directive 2006/112/EC, the effect of which is to bring the Isle of Man within the EC's VAT fiscal territory.
	The United Kingdom does not have a tax information exchange agreement with Monaco, Liechtenstein or Andorra.

Written Questions: Finance

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the cost limit above which Ministers may decline to answer Parliamentary Questions on the ground of disproportionate cost was last revised.

Angela Eagle: The disproportionate cost threshold (DCT) was set at its present level (700) in November 2006, 28 November 2006,  Official Report, column 87WS. The threshold is advisory, not obligatory. Ministers can answer written questions substantively regardless of cost if they consider it in the public interest to do so.

Departmental ICT

Paul Holmes: To ask the Leader of the House how many  (a) memory sticks,  (b) laptop computers,  (c) desktop computers,  (d) hard drives and  (e) mobile telephones were (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from her Office in each year since 1997.

Chris Bryant: There have been no further losses following the answer I gave on 3 November 2008,  Official Report, column 14W, namely that since June 2007 one laptop has been reported stolen from the Leader of the House of Commons Office. The laptop was used to update the office website and did not contain any personal data or other sensitive information. No data has been lost.
	Following a machinery of government change, information prior to 2006-07 is available only at disproportionate cost.

Employers' Liability: Databases

David Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make it his policy to create a database to which all employers are required to submit the details of their liability insurance.

Jonathan R Shaw: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, matters to do with employers' liability compulsory insurance (ELCI) sits with the DWP. I understand that your inquiry is about ELCI and not public liability insurance. At present, where a potential claimant who has been injured or made ill through their work and is unable to identify the employer's insurer to claim against, they may use the employers' liability code of practice tracing service. The code of practice, which was launched on 1 November 1999, is a voluntary code operated by the insurance industry, which requires signatories to retain historical records of insurance policies for 60 years.
	Tracing employers' liability insurance policies is complex and we know that the historical records of some insurers are incomplete. However, the Government are committed to improving this situation and we are working with stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of the tracing service, ensuring that we are in a position where we can be confident that every effort has been made to trace this information. For this reason, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to consider positive measures within the industry to address this issue. I understand that the ABI are looking into the feasibility of a database.
	In the meantime, DWP will continue to monitor the success rate of employers' liability insurance policy tracing through the Employers' Liability Code of Practice Review Body, and support improvements to the code, in order to build further upon the successes in tracing employers' liability insurance policies.

Carbon Emissions Reduction Target

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many fuel-standardised kilowatt hours of energy savings were carried forward from phase two of the energy efficiency commitment to the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target.

Joan Ruddock: Ofgem's report 'A Review of the Energy Efficiency Commitment 2005-2008', published in August 2008, states that the energy suppliers carried over 57 Fuel Standardised Lifetime tera-watt hours (or 57,000,000,000 Fuel Standardised Lifetime kilowatt hours) from Energy Efficiency Commitment 2 to the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target.

Carbon Emissions: Departmental Responsibilities

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what work is expected to be carried out by the Special Representative of the Prime Minister on Carbon Trading; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: The Prime Minister's Special Representative on Carbon Trading, my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz), was appointed on 6 October this year.
	The Special Representative has been tasked with promoting the development of a global carbon market, helping to ensure that London remains at the forefront of these developments, as well as advising the Government on the potential for linking international emissions trading schemes.
	He is responsible for engaging in dialogue with the European Commission, the private sector, financial institutions, other governments and others interested in the development of the global carbon market internationally.
	He is also responsible for maintaining a dialogue with UK carbon market players in the financial sector and wider economy.
	Further tasks will be developed in consultation with the Secretary of State.

Climate Change

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the timetable is for the development and implementation of the first climate change risk assessment; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: We are currently in the process of conducting a scoping study on the Climate Change Risk Assessment, this will be completed by February 2009. The Climate Change Risk Assessment will commence after this date and is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, including a post-project consultation period.

Climate Change

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the level of access to project credits under  (a) the provisions of the Climate Change Bill and  (b) EU effort-sharing arrangements.

Joan Ruddock: The information is as follows.
	 (a) The Bill already requires the Government to
	have regard to the need for UK domestic action on climate change
	when considering how to meet the UK's targets and carbon budgets. As required in the Bill, we have asked the independent Committee on Climate Change to advise on the appropriate balance between action at domestic, European and international level, for each carbon budget.
	In addition, the Government have now tabled an amendment to the Bill which would require a limit to be set on the purchase of credits for each budgetary period in secondary legislation, subject to the affirmative procedure, and taking into account the Committee's advice.
	 (b) The current proposal is that, on the basis of sharing a 20 per cent. EU reduction target, member states have an annual project credit allowance in the years 2013-20 equal to 3 per cent. of their non-Emissions Trading Scheme emissions in 2005.

Energy Efficiency Commitment

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many fuel-standardised kilowatt hours of energy savings were carried forward from phase one to phase two of the Energy Efficiency Commitment.

Joan Ruddock: Ofgem's report 'A Review of the Energy Efficiency Commitment 2005-2008' published in August 2008 states that the energy suppliers carried over measures equivalent to 36 Fuel Standardised Lifetime tera-watt hours (or 36,000,000,000 Fuel Standardised Lifetime kilowatt hours) from EEC1 to EEC2.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Power Stations

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the greenhouse gas emission reductions that will be made from a 1990 baseline within the domestic  (a) EU and  (b) UK power sectors under (i) a 20 per cent. and (ii) a 30 per cent. EU effort-sharing arrangement.

Joan Ruddock: The EU greenhouse gas (GHG) Effort Sharing Decision is focused on emissions not covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). It therefore does not cover emissions from the power sector which are included under the EU ETS.
	The EU has emissions reduction targets, with a proposed 20 per cent. unilateral reduction, from 1990 GHG emissions, by 2020 and the commitment to deliver a 30 per cent. reduction in the context of an international deal. Phase III (2013-20) of the EU ETS limits emissions from industrial sectors and seeks to meet these targets.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was provided in Warm Front grants in  (a) Hertfordshire and  (b) Hemel Hempstead in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many families in each location received a grant in that year.

Joan Ruddock: The following table illustrates the number of households assisted and cost of measures delivered through the Warm Front Grant, in  (a) Hertfordshire and  (b) Hemel Hempstead between 1 April 2007 and 30 March 2008.
	
		
			   Households assisted  Cost of measures () 
			 Hertfordshire 2,233 3,287,930.03 
			 Hemel Hempstead 349 300,717.76

Adoption

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many adoptions have taken place down in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the average age was of children of each ethnicity at time of adoption in the last year for which records are available.

Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of adoptions which have broken down is not collected centrally. When an adoption breaks down and a child returns to be looked after, for reasons of confidentiality, the local authority concerned will give the child a new identity code, which means that we cannot link post-adoption records to pre-adoption records.
	The average age for children of each ethnicity at the time of adoption, for those adopted during the year ending 31 March 2008, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Average age at adoption by ethnic origin for looked after children adopted during year ending 31 March 2008 , England 
			  Years:months 
			   All children  White  Mixed  Asian  Mixed  Other 
			 Average age 3:11 3:11 3:8 3:1 4:0 4:7 
			  Source: SSDA903 return on children looked after.

Children: Day Care

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the level of availability of wraparound child care in  (a) England,  (b) the West Midlands and  (c) Birmingham.

Beverley Hughes: As required by the Childcare Act 2006, all 150 top tier local authorities in England, including Birmingham and other West Midlands authorities, have completed and published assessments of the sufficiency of childcare, including wrap around care in their areas.

Education Maintenance Allowance

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what steps have been adopted by the Learning and Skills Council to allow colleges to give Learner Support Fund monies to students yet to receive their education maintenance allowance grant;
	(2)  how many requests the Learning and Skills Council has received from colleges for funds to cover expenditure from their learner support funds to replace delayed education maintenance allowance grants; and how much has been  (a) requested and  (b) supplied;
	(3)  how much colleges have paid monies from their learner support funds to students yet to receive their education maintenance allowance grant;
	(4)  whether the Learning and Skills Council will reimburse college spending from the learner support funds to redress the effects of delayed education maintenance allowance payments.

Jim Knight: These are all matters for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) and other learner support schemes funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Mark Haysom, the LSC's chief executive, has written to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 7 November 2008:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Questions 229264 and 229261 that asked: whether the Learning and Skills Council will reimburse college spending from the learner support funds to redress the effects of delayed education maintenance allowance payments, and what steps have been adopted by the Learning and Skills Council to allow colleges to give Learner Support monies to student yet to receive their Education Maintenance Allowance.
	The Learning and Skills Council provides schools and colleges with discretionary learner support to help learners in severe hardship. Where individuals are suffering as a result of late payment of their EMA, we would want colleges to offer whatever forms of help are necessary to learners. How these arrangements are best administered is a matter for colleges. Colleges will also need to determine how to recover any expenditure from learners once they receive their EMA back payment.
	Many colleges are putting such arrangements in place using existing funding. However, where in the short term a college does need additional funding, the LSC will be willing to reprofile payments to the college in year, to front load their overall funding allocation. This will ensure that funds are available to each and every college to meet the current situation. The priority must be to ensure that any learner in need of support to alleviate hardship is able to access it. Colleges wishing to explore the possibility of reprofiling have been advised to contact their Regional Finance Director.

Free School Meals: Hemel Hempstead

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of students in Hemel Hempstead  (a) were eligible for free school meals,  (b) had a statement of special education needs and  (c) were on School Action Plus in the latest year for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The requested information is shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools, state-funded secondary schools and all special schools: school meal arrangements( 1) , position in January 2008, England, East of England, Hertfordshire and Hemel Hempstead 
			   England( 2)  Hertfordshire  Hemel Hempstead 
			   Number on roll  Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  Number on roll( 3)  Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  Number on roll( 3)  Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 
			 Maintained Primary Schools(4) 4,090,400 638,310 15.6 91,823 7,207 7.8 8,259 879 10.6 
			 State-funded Secondary Schools(5) 3,294,580 433,140 13.1 80,210 4,874 6.1 7,116 643 9.0 
			 All Special Schools(3) 90,690 28,680 31.6 2,163 418 19.3 220 46 20.9 
			 (1) Includes all pupils with dual (main) registration and boarding pupils. (2) National totals have been rounded to the nearest 10. There may be discrepancies between totals and the sum of constituent parts. (3) Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Includes middle schools as deemed. (5) Includes middle schools as deemed, city technology colleges and academies.  Source: School Census 
		
	
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools, state-funded secondary schools and all special schools: special educational needs( 1) , position in January 2008, England, East of England, Hertfordshire and Hemel Hempstead 
			   England( 2) 
			   Pupils on roll( 3)  Pupils with statements  Incidence (percentage)( 4)  Pupils on roll( 5)  SEN provision, school action plus( 5)  Incidence (percentage)( 4) 
			 Maintained Primary Schools(6) 4,087,790 59,130 1.4 4,087,790 253,590 6.2 
			 State-funded Secondary Schools(7) 3,289,000 67,270 2.0 3,289,000 186,860 5.7 
			 All Special Schools 89,480 86,950 97.2 89,310 1,730 1.9 
		
	
	
		
			   Hertfordshire 
			   Pupils on roll( 3)  Pupils with statements  Incidence (percentage)( 4)  Pupils on roll( 5)  SEN provision, school action plus( 5)  Incidence (percentage)( 4) 
			 Maintained Primary Schools(6) 91,812 1,013 1.1 91,812 4,922 5.4 
			 State-funded Secondary Schools(7) 80,202 927 1.2 80,202 3,691 4.6 
			 All Special Schools 2,160 2,149 99.5 2,160 5 0.2 
		
	
	
		
			   Hemel Hempstead 
			   Pupils on roll( 3)  Pupils with statements  Incidence (percentage)( 4)  Pupils on roll( 5)  SEN provision, school action plus( 5)  Incidence (percentage)( 4) 
			 Maintained Primary Schools(6) 8,256 94 1.1 8,256 495 6.0 
			 State-funded Secondary Schools(7) 7,116 98 1.4 7,116 334 4.7 
			 All Special Schools 219 219 100.0 219 0 0.0 
			 (1) Excluding dually registered pupils. (2) National totals have been rounded to the nearest 10. There may be discrepancies between totals and the sum of constituent parts. (3) Includes general hospital schools for pupils with statements of special education needs. (4) Incidence of pupilsthe number of pupils with SEN without statements expressed as a proportion of pupils on roll. (5) Excludes general hospital schools. Data for pupils with SEN without statements is not collected from these schools. (6) Includes middle schools as deemed. (7) Includes city technology colleges and academies.  Source: School Census.

Learning and Skills Council: Reorganisation

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which of the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC's) centrally-funded functions will be undertaken by  (a) local authorities and  (b) other institutions when the LSC is dissolved.

Si�n Simon: I have been asked to reply.
	The White Paper Raising Expectations: enabling the system to deliver, set out proposals to replace the Learning and Skills Council with two new systems. Responsibility for 16-19 funding will transfer to local authorities, supported by a new Young People's Learning Agency. For adults we propose to build on the demand led approach, including through the creation of a new Skills Funding Agency and strengthened advice and support services for adults and employers.
	In response to the consultation on the White Paper we are developing the business models for the delivery of 14-19 and adult skills. This work is determining the functions which will be carried out by local authorities and other organisations, and will enable both Departments to work with partners to develop the appropriate transition plans.
	The LSC will continue to be responsible for securing the effective delivery of post 16 learning until the new arrangements are in place.

Schools: Admissions

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will instigate an investigation into the compliance of North Yorkshire County Council's policy on admissions to Harrogate schools with the School Admissions Code.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Schools Adjudicator in March 2008 requesting that he report on compliance for admissions in September 2009. The Schools Adjudicator examined a large sample of schools across all 150 local authorities as well as a further 300 foundation and voluntary-aided schools. He identified breaches of the code in more than half of the foundation and voluntary-aided schools, half of which were clear breaches. The Schools Adjudicator has since worked with the schools and has confirmed that the necessary action has been taken to ensure compliance with the code for the 2009 admissions round.

Schools: Finance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how much and what proportion of the school development grant has been spent on special educational needs in each year since 2004; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the school development grant in improving standards in schools; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many and what proportion of schools are in receipt of funding from the school development grant in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what conditions are placed on the use of school development grant funding; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Local authority Section 52 Budget Statements indicate that, of the 21,704 maintained schools open for all of financial year 2008-09, 21,702 (99.99 per cent.) receive School Development Grant (SDG). All 131 academies receive equivalent funding to SDG. Schools are free to spend SDG on any purpose to support improvements in teaching and learning in schools, leading to higher standards of attainment for every learner. This can include expenditure on improving teaching and learning for pupils with special educational needs. We do not collect centrally details of how schools spend their SDG, as the Government aim to keep reporting requirements on schools to a minimum. Standards in schools are not assessed against particular funding streams, so no particular assessment has been made of the effectiveness of School Development Grant. Standards in schools are assessed through Ofsted inspections and information on pupil attainment.

Schools: Finance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what conditions are placed on the use of school standards grant funding; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: School Standards Grant may be spent by a school for the purposes of the school; for the educational benefit of pupils registered at that school, or for the benefit of pupils registered at other maintained schools; and on community facilities in support of extended services, provided under Section 27 of the Education Act 2002.

Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many representations his Department has received on changes to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal in the last six months.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) became part of the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber of the new First-tier Tribunal on November 3. The Department's correspondence handling system shows that 103 letters have been answered by Ministers since May in the lead up to this change and six have been answered by officials. No delegations have so far come to the Department about this issue. The Ministry of Justice, of which the Tribunals Service is an Executive agency, have also received representations.

Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impaired

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made in narrowing the gap in educational attainment between deaf children and their hearing peers; and what steps he plans to take to further narrow the gap.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: We have been looking at the data on attainment gaps between hearing impaired children and their peers with the National Deaf Children's Society, in the context of our public service agreement target to narrow attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Our national strategies advisers are looking with local authorities at the proportions of children who are achieving less than levels expected for their age at Key Stages 2 and 4, and at the actions being taken to reduce those proportions over time. We have commissioned research from the National Children's Bureau and the Thomas Coram Research Centre to establish why there are such wide variations between authorities on the identification and classification of children with all types of SEN but using deaf/hearing children and autism spectrum disorders as exemplars.
	To help narrow outcome gaps between children with SEN and disabilities (including children whose hearing is impaired) and their peers, we committed 18 million in the Children's Plan to: improve work force knowledge, skills and understanding of SEN and disability through better initial teacher training and continuing professional development; developing better data for schools on how well children are progressing, and guidance for schools on what constitutes good progress; and continue to strengthen the position of SEN coordinators in schools. The Training and Development Agency is currently consulting on proposals for nationally accredited training courses for new SEN coordinators.
	We have also committing to funding, from September 2009, additional places on courses leading to approved mandatory qualifications (MQ) for teaching children and young people with sensory impairments. The TDA has been working with interested parties to establish arrangements for making best use of the funding we are making available.
	In addition, we have committed 800,000 for a pilot project to raise awareness of British Sign Language and upskill the current specialist work force.

Teachers: Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of active members in the teachers' pension scheme joined on or after 1 January 2007; and what projections he has made of changes to this figure over time.

Jim Knight: Active members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme joining on or after 1 January 2007 accrue service with a normal pension age of 65. Based on data collected as at 31 March 2008, there were approximately 29,000 (4.5 per cent.) such active members. No projections have been made of the changes over time to the proportion of active members who joined on or after 1 January 2007. Projections of how the proportion of members who join after April 2006 would increase over time were made in the context of the Public Services Forum agreement in October 2005. I refer the hon. Member to the answer the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury gave to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on 8 November 2005,  Official Report, column 330W, which indicated the staff turnover assumed across the pension schemes for teachers, the NHS and civil servants.

Teachers: Training

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many initial teacher training providers over-recruited for  (a) mathematics,  (b) science,  (c) other secondary priority subjects,  (d) non-priority secondary subjects and  (e) primary teacher training places in each of the last five years; and what the level of over-recruitment was in each case.

Jim Knight: The requested information is given in the following table.
	These figures exclude employment based routes initial teacher training (EBITT) courses. Prior to 2008-09 the Department did not set targets for EBITT, although recruitment data for EBITT courses was still taken into account in projecting the future required numbers of recruits and successful completers on each type of programme and by subject to assist in determining the targets required for mainstream ITT targets.
	
		
			  Mainstream initial teacher training (ITT): Places and recruitment by ITT specialism 2003-04 to 2007-08: England 
			Mainstream providers where recruitment exceeds allocation by one or more place 
			   All Mainstream ITT ProvidersTotal over-recruitment 
			   Total number of mainstream providers offering the course  Mainstream providers where recruitment exceeds allocation by one or more place  Number of allocated places  Number recruited to TT courses  Number of places exceeding allocation  Average number of places in each provider exceeding allocation 
			  (a) Mathematics   
			 2003-04 74 15 410 460 50 * 
			 2004-05 78 9 260 290 20 * 
			 2005-06 82 11 290 320 30 * 
			 2006-07 82 12 330 360 30 * 
			 2007-08 84 6 230 280 50 10 
			
			  (b) Science   
			 2003-04 77 15 750 820 70 * 
			 2004-05 80 13 530 580 50 * 
			 2005-06 83 12 460 490 40 * 
			 2006-07 84 18 770 830 60 * 
			 2007-08 84 15 760 830 80 10 
			
			  (c) Other secondary priority subjects   
			 2003-04 88 13 2,650 2,790 150 10 
			 2004-05 91 9 1,810 1,880 60 10 
			 2005-06 93 5 640 690 50 10 
			 2006-07 97 7 1,550 1,600 50 10 
			 2007-08 97 9 1,030 1,080 60 10 
			
			  (d) Non-priority secondary subjects   
			 2003-04 85 19 2,020 2,130 100 10 
			 2004-05 88 25 2,330 2,490 160 10 
			 2005-06 91 31 2,730 2,910 180 10 
			 2006-07 83 38 2,330 2,540 210 10 
			 2007-08 83 44 2,270 2,520 250 10 
			
			  (e) Primary   
			 2003-04 85 48 11,350 11,840 490 10 
			 2004-05 90 34 9,250 9,670 410 10 
			 2005-06 88 46 11,390 11,950 560 10 
			 2006-07 89 38 9,410 9,750 340 10 
			 2007-08 88 43 9,570 9,970 400 10 
			 * less than 5.  Notes: 1. Mainstream includes universities and other higher education institutions, SCITT and OU, but excludes employment based routes. 2. Other secondary priority subjects includes: English; Maths; Science; ICT; Design and Technology; Technology; Modern Languages; Music (from September 2006); Religious Education (from September 2006) and Business Studies. Note that Business Studies is not a priority subject but is included here because the departmental target for Technology includes Design and Technology, ICT and Business Studies and cannot be split into the component parts. 3. Non-priority secondary subjects includes: Geography, History; Art; Design; physical Education; applied Science; Applied ICT; Manufacturing; Engineering; health and Social Care; Applied Business; Leisure and Tourism; VocationalRecreation, Sport and Leisure Studies; Applied Art and Design; Music (up to September 2006) and Religious Education (up to September 2006). Excludes Business Studiessee note 2. 4. Allocation and recruitment numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. 
		
	
	Targets set by the Department are at sector (not provider) level. Providers recruit to an allocation based on a bidding process. Providers are encouraged to set aspirational and challenging targets. The sum of the allocation targets may not be the same as sector level Departmental targets.

Teachers: Training

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of students following a primary teaching postgraduate mainstream course receive a 4,000 bursary; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Training bursaries are payable to eligible trainees on mainstream postgraduate courses of initial teacher training. In 2007-08 there were 8,640 first year postgraduates on mainstream primary courses eligible for the primary bursary.
	In principle, almost all trainees are eligible for a training bursary. To be eligible for a training bursary, a trainee must be a home or EU trainee on a TDA funded course and be eligible for student support. The full eligibility criteria for a bursary are as set out in the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Funding manual, available at:
	www.tda.gov.uk/ittfunding